|
An excellent book. Well written and captures your interest from cover to cover. I felt like I was there witnessing the battle of Gettysburg.
See: Joshua Chamberlain: The Soldier and the ManSince Shaara relies on Chamberlain's own work, and since Chamberlain was a shameless self-promoter and had a tendency to. The civil war was one topic that I could not read enough on, and a man I idealized, one of my heros, was Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. "exaggerate" the historical record, it is difficult to see this book as anything else than a somewhat inaccurate portrait of Chamberlain's role at Gettysburg. He is the central character of this novel.Firstly, allow to me to say that this novel is outstanding. As it turns out, Camberlain was safely across the river the entire time. A truly wonderfully told story, and an excellent novel.However, it is not a five star book, because the story of the central character, Joshua Lawerence Chamberlain, does not comport with the reality of what happened. He published a story about how assaulted the sunken road, and had to cover himself with the body of a dead comrade etc.
After much reading, it is very clear to me that the history in this wonderful novel when it comes to its central character is entirely off base. One really gets a feel for the war, and what it must have been like to be there. Chamberlain, if anything, was a tireless self promoter, and Shaara relies on Chamberlain's own accounts to tell this story. As a novel, this book gets five stars.
Many years ago I read this book, and it began an obsession for me. etc.Chamberlain was long lived, but not long lived enough. One elderly veteran of the 20th Main was alive, and wrote immediately to correct Chamberlain's account. He never saw action at Fredricksberg. And this is a big mistake. Chamberlain's exaggerations, it is best to look elsewhere. It is well written, beautifully told, and in terms of the larger facts of the battle of Gettysberg, very accurate. This is unfortunate, because the book is truly outstanding and well written and engaging.
In as much as some historians have also relied on this account, the truth about what occurred has been and somewhat obfuscated in some of the literature. Later in life Chamberlain told the story of his involvement at Fredricksberg. However, if one is looking for a real history of the battle of Gettysberg that is less influenced by Gen. As an accurate history however it is lacking in that Shaara relied on the accounts of a man who was a self-promoter.
This is great book for anyone that loves history and wants a fascinating perpective from the officers involved.
The story should interest me just from reading the jacket. The Killer Angels however is an exception. I wish I had read it before my first (and so far only trip).For me good fiction should have several characteristics all of which Shaara accomplishes skillfully. Once I got back I read Killer Angels for the first time and much of what I had read previously made more sense. Third, and in many ways the most difficult, is speech has to sound realistic. Accomplished. He did not believe it. Before my visit to Gettysburg over a year ago I had read a long work on the battle.
For me the more hyped a book is the less likely I am to find them worth my effort. I am really not much of a reader of fiction. The language is not overdone nor does Shaara go overboard in his description. Reynolds lay in the dirt road, the aides bending over him. He was dead." (pages 101-102) In a brief few lines Shaara has brought his readers onto the battlefield as if we were really there at the scene of Reynolds death.
Second, the author should be able to set a mood and make you feel you are really there. Accomplished. "A moment later Buford looked that way and the horse was bare-backed. Accomplished. A pack mentality for fiction is usually a bad thing.
Arthur Freemantle fills this role nicely.Let's face it this is not history at it's finest. The interplay between Generals Lee and Longstreet or maybe the exchanges between Colonel Joshua Chamberlain and his brother Tom show Shaara's mastery of this. More authors should read out aloud what they write and see if it sounds natural. For me a good example of this comes in the death scene of General John Reynolds. When Buford got there the thick stain had already puddled the dirt beneath his head. It doesn't claim to be.
There are of course always exceptions to the rule and there are a few fiction books that are worth the time to read. Accomplished. Lastly, and maybe of less importance, is that side characters should be interesting and not just space filler. What it is however is a powerful read that doesn't gloss over the horrors of war.
I was not prepared for what I was reading. Buford knelt. It is a wonderful book to read and should be required reading before any trip to Gettysburg. What I think a reader will take away from this work is a rudimentary knowledge of the Battle of Gettysburg and the major players.
He broke off and rode to see. His eyes were open, half asleep, his face pleasant and composed, a soft smile. Fighting is not glamorous and Shaara doesn't make it out that way. I can highly recommend this as a good starting point for the study of the battle and a book that is well worth rereading for those with in depth knowledge.
It quickly wins a Pulitzer Prize. Idealism versus realism. Shaara brings us face to face with our bittersweet, mysterious humanity in personal, community and historical context. Like the beaches of Normandy, every step mattered and many lives were lost based on human decisions and errors. City versus country. Good versus good and good won.
We want a clear story. Step by step. Progress versus tradition. What is the attraction.As Americans, we want simplicity. Good versus evil and good won.
We want a focus. It doesn't dodge the moral or personal character issues. Bullet by bullet. A science fiction writer publishes a break-through civil war novel in 1974 as the Vietnam War and the 1960's recede slowly from the American consciousness, It doesn't take sides. Shaara is able to lure the reader into and through these 4 days of the apocalypse. How did we get here today. The stark, unavoidable existential experience is rewarding.This work is attractive and thought-provoking in spite of its flaws. North versus South.
A shot from out of the BLUE. Inch by inch. Decision by decision. At Gettysburg, the great forces of North and South met and the North prevailed - barely, with great costs to both sides.The reader is treated to a novel that provides many levels of meaning: personal, community, culture, politics, religion, nation, destiny, eternity. Black versus White. Just like the historical characters in the novel. It remains a best-seller for 35 years in a time far removed from the Civil War.Yet, as the 1-3 star reviewers say, it is not a great novel, it is not especially accurate, it is slow at times, the wording is weak in places, the content is not new, it covers no new philosophical ground, etc. Just like the America it describes.
Christianity versus Christianity. The Civil war attracts and compels like no other. He does not provide the simplistic answers that we want to hear, yet the reading experience is very satisfying. Then and now.
|
